Mass Effect: Surreptitious
by Kedo177
Summary: Takes place during the events of the first game. A side story of a man named Axel pursuing Commander Shepherd. Story is now complete. Sequel coming soon!
1. Chapter 1

Mass Effect: Surreptitious

Chapter One:

"You can't go anywhere these days without hearing about Commander Amy Shepherd. She has been on the news ever since The Blitz. A sort of symbol for The Alliance military one might say. She isn't the only one out there risking her ass for humanity. Me? The name is Axel. I grew up on Earth and did what I had to do to get me a ship and get the hell off that rock. Many people come to me when they need something done. What might that be? Hell, I'll do anything as long as the pay is good. Smuggling, Assassination, Search and Rescue, you name it and I get the job done. I am a biotic; ever since I was little I was able to do extraordinary things. Moving objects through telekinesis was something I mastered at a young age. I was considered dangerous at a young age and that caught the Alliances attention. A doctor who specialized in biotics helped train me to control my "gift". Sometimes I think it's a curse. If I use my biotic powers to much I am overcome with a severe headache that can cause me to blackout. A double edge weapon that someday could be the end of me. Once I was finished with my training I left before the Alliance could recruit me. I'm not the heroic soldier type of guy. Some might ask what my goal in life was. My answer is simple. Survival at all cost. Now this Shepherd person thinks an ancient machine race is going to come back and wipe out all organic life in the universe. Hell, like others I was laughing at this speculation. Not only is this race of machines coming back, but a Citadel Specter named Saren is helping the cause. Everyone thought she was a joke, and then she proved us all wrong. She proved this Citadel Specter had gone rogue and was indeed using a robotic army of Geth to make sure this all happens. These machines or better known as Reapers are still only a speculation. Real or not it was that day, I decided no matter what I am going to meet her. By proving Saren was a traitor to the Citadel Council she became the first human specter. With her new title I knew this was going to make it harder to track and find her. All her actions are classified and it's no simple task hacking into the systems to retrieve that information. Bah sitting here having a drink never fails at making my mind delve into the past."

Axel finishes his drink sitting in a dance club at the bar. He looks around and notices he is the only human there. Many of the galactic races aren't too fond of humanity and how quick we've made our presence known across the galaxy. A couple of Turians sitting across the bar at a table sit staring at Axel, and then turn and talk again. The place is hard to hear anything, the music is loud and the "entertainment" usually steals everyone's attention anyways. A hand hits Axels shoulder and a mysterious figure sits down next to him.

"Alright I got your information, but it's not going to come cheap. Let's say we're going to re-negotiate our deal."

Axel smirks and turns to look at the Salarian sitting next to him. Before answering, he takes a quick glance around the bar surveying it, looking to see how much attention he has drawn to him, and more importantly looking for anyone new in the bar that would be here protecting their Salarian friend. After looking around he replies to the newcomer.

"I told you before, money is not an issue. However we already agreed that the price would be 25,000 credits. I try to be fair, but when my business partner tries to cheat me I tend to get a little pissed off."

Unphased by Axels' words the Salarian lets out a laugh.

"I have been your source for information gathering for about two months now. So I went a little further and dove deeper to find this information about this Amy Shepherd. It turns out she is quite the hero for your human race. Now she has been promoted to be a Specter for the Citadel. I don't know why you're going after this human, but I figure for someone of her stature the price should at least double. I think you'll understand what I mean."

The Salarian puts a gun onto the table trying to intimidate Axel. Two more figures walk up behind Axel. Axel sits there unphased. He proceeds to finish his drink before making the attempt to answer.

"So this is the way it's going to be huh?"

With lightning reflexes Axle jumps from his seat, turns around and thrusts his arms forward knocking the two figures back into the wall, rendering them unconscious. The Salarian reaches for his gun he laid onto the counter, only to have Axles' foot come down on top of his wrist breaking it. The Salarian lets out a cry of agony, he knows he is beaten.

"Please…I beg you don't hurt me. I'll give you the information you want for free just let me go."

Axle smiles as the Salarian hands him an envelope with the information on Shepherd inside it. Placing the envelope in his pocket, Axle releases the Salarian and grabs his gun. After the commotion in the bar Axle knew it was time to leave. Being the only human in the bar he knew he wouldn't have much of a chance against the others there if anybody else decided to jump into the mix. All eyes were on him as he turned around and exited the club. Once outside, he reaches into his pocket and takes out the information. Taking a quick glance over the documents a smile comes across his face.

"Looks like I am heading to Therum. Hopefully this Liara Tsoni hasn't been found by Shepherd or Saren."

Axle starts walking and puts the information back into his pocket. He reaches into another pocket and pulls out a pair of dark sunglasses. He puts them on and heads to the docking bay with a new destination in mind.


	2. Chapter 2

Mass Effect: Surreptitious

Chapter Two:

With his new destination in mind, Axel punches in his coordinates into his star map and takes off for Therum. His ship approaching a mass relay, Axel braces himself as his ship is thrown into hyperspace. Not knowing what would be waiting for him, he immediately restocks on weapon ammunition and first aid supplies. After finishing, Axel sits down at a small desk in his room and starts thinking about his upcoming task.

"Hmm let's take a look at this information again about Liara Tsoni. Asari, scientist, a biotic, and daughter of Matriarch Benezia. This is a pretty interesting little résumé and hey a fellow biotic this could be interesting if we come to blows! I just hope I get there before Shepherd and Saren."

Approximately fifteen hours pass and Axel finds his ship orbiting the plant Therum. Scanning the planet for a suitable place to land is the tricky part. The planet is desolate and is surrounded abundant in lava. Axel begins to survey the planet looking for any signs of research camps. The ships scanner systems pick up a few signals of organic life on the planet below entering a Prothean dig site. The Prothean's were an organic race that existed 50,000 years ago, and then suddenly vanished. Knowing he wouldn't be alone on the planet Axel ponders the situation.

"This could get ugly; all those dangerous fumes could destroy my ships sensors. From the look of things I will have to set the ship to auto pilot and take the chance of it flying down to pick me up when I am done with this mission. Looks like I am going to have to drop in some of that good ole Alliance military tech I managed to get my hands on."

Axel makes his way down to his ships cargo bay and smiles.

"Looks like me and you are going to get to see some action baby, don't let me down now."

An M35 Mako infantry fighting vehicle sits before him, ready to be deployed. Axel makes his final preparations before making his decent to the planet's surface. Axel's ship enters the planet's atmosphere and dives toward a clear spot. The ship deploys the Mako and then returns to orbit. As the Mako touches down on the ground Axel makes his way to the place his ship picked up the life forms. Stopping approximately one-hundred meters from the position, he puts on his oxygen helmet and exits the Mako.

The surface of the planet is quiet, a very eerie quiet. Axel grabs his pistol and starts moving slowly towards his destination. Hiding behind boulders and making sure he is not exposed to anything that may be out there waiting for him. Then some unexpected tremors happen and the ground begins to shake. Axel takes cover behind a boulder waiting for them to go away. He hears a roaring sound coming from the sky.

"Shit, another ship!"

Axel jumps from behind the boulder and starts rushing towards his destination, hoping to get there before the ship does. Then suddenly he comes to a halt. About thirty five meters from his destination, he notices the pathway he is on is littered with robotic bodies. Geth bodies to be exact, they had all been destroyed recently. Suddenly Axel is knocked to the ground as the ship he heard comes roaring in close to the camp. A few seconds later, an explosion comes from the area Axel is headed to.

A little dazed, Axel manages to get back to his feet as he hears the ship take off back through the atmosphere. Axel continues making his way towards his destination now being more cautious. Not getting to see what kind of ship that was, made him feel a little uneasy. A few moments later he arrives at his destination. The pathway led to an excavation site camp. Like the pathway he followed, the place was littered with Geth bodies. Only one major difference…The body of a Colossus Geth lay in the middle of the camp.

"Whoever took this down must have been packing some serious fire power."

Axel looks around the area to make sure it's clear then notices a ramp leading to a tunnel. He approaches it cautiously and notices the entrance to the tunnel has been caved in.

"Which side got here first, Shepherds or Sarens…"

Axel put his pistol away and made his way back to the ground. Lowering his guard for only a second, a costly second as a load boom sound echoed through the camp. A sniper hit him in his upper chest ripping through his armor and shielding. Axel collapses onto the ground. The bullet contained some form of poison instantly deadening his nerves. Fading in and out of consciousness the last thing he sees is a human girl crouched down next to him.

"Shepherd...?"

Axel then blacked out on the spot.


	3. Chapter 3

Mass Effect: Surreptitious

Chapter Three:

Fading in and out of consciousness Axel attempted to make out his surroundings, but was unable to. Every time he became conscious for a few seconds he saw the same girl who was crouching down next to him. When he finally came to, he noticed he was in one of the buildings at the dig site. His wound had been cleaned using Omni gel and bandaged tightly. He sat up from the bed he was on and looked around, however there was nobody in the room. Axel reached down for his gun and noticed all his weapons, ammunition, and body armor was gone.

"Who the hell shoots somebody, takes their equipment, and then helps heal them?" Axel mumbled.

Just as soon as he said that the door burst open and in came the girl who Axel had saw each time he became conscious. The girl removed her environmental suit and looked over and saw him and jumped as if she was scared.

"I'm not going to hurt you if that's what you're thinking miss…?"

"Sara. Just call me Sara…Are…are you alright? I thought you were one of Sarens men looking for me. That bastard dropped me on this rock a few weeks ago to look for the dig site here. He told me if I didn't find what he was looking for he would send men to kill me. I heard the explosions, felt the tremors, and saw the Geth all over the camp. I hid here and then I saw you. While you were heading up the ramp I took a one of the guns from the locker here and shot you. I'm sorry…I feared my life was going to end soon, and just reacted."

Axel sat there and listened to Sara explain her situation.

"I always figured if someone hit me good with a bullet like you did it would be the end of me and…"

Sara cut him off mid-sentence.

"I have your pistol right here I can still shoot you if you want."

Sara displayed a huge grin across her face. Axel a little surprised by the comment let a smile slip and looked her directly in the eyes.

"Don't tempt me with a good time now."

The two shared in laughter. Sara walks over to the counter sitting across from the bed Axel is sitting at. She grabbed a couple of MRE's and hands one to Axel. Starving the two of them sit down and eat together. Axel isn't very sure he can trust her since she worked for Saren. At the same time he wants to believe he can trust her for saving his life after she had shot him. While eating Axel began thinking about his next move.

"If Sara worked for Saren maybe she has some valuable information that can lead me to Shepherd. Maybe I can offer her a ride off this planet in exchange for information."

Before he could think of anything else Sara interrupted his thoughts.

"Take me with you. I want to get off this rock and I want to get payback on that Turian Bastard."

Axel was surprised at her eagerness to go with him. After all, they both just met.

"Well I can't make any promises right away. First off, I need to know how long I was out cold. Second I don't know if my ship is still in one piece or not. Third, what kind of special talents can you provide? Last, I need to know if you have any kind of knowledge of where Saren is headed."

"You've been out for four days now. I had to extract the poisons from your wound. All your equipment is over in the locker. Whenever you feel you can get up and about again you can check and make sure everything is in order. I am an engineer and know a little about medicine. My father was a doctor back on Earth. You're heading after Saren too? I can offer you information about his next move."

Axel a little startled by her willingness to help, was overcome with relief by her offering to help. He didn't want to force the information out of her if he didn't have to.

"I'm not going after Saren in particular. There is someone else pursing him. Her names Shepherd. Commander Amy Shepherd of the Alliance military, to be exact. Saren and Shepherd are seeking the same thing; both will be headed in the same direction. This will give us both what we seek."

Sara developed a surprised look on her face.

"I know of this woman. I have seen her on the news and read about her in the papers. She is a very famous person in the military. Can I ask what it is you want with her?"

Axel bowed his head toward the ground before answering her.

"To be honest I am not sure what will happen when I see her."

This kind of answer gave Sara the chills, but she didn't say anything else in fear of upsetting Axel. After the two had their conversation Axel began preparing to leave the planet. Not only did he have his gear now, but Sara gathered up the remaining portions of food and medical supplies for the two, and the left over ammunition for the sniper rifle. Axel was relieved to find out his ship was still in one piece and nobody had stolen it. Axel and Sara put on their environmental suits and made their way to the Mako and awaited the arrival of his ship to pick them up.

"I hope you're lucky doc and all this hot vented smoke doesn't damage my ships sensors."

Sara made a loud gulping sound. Axel's ship swooped in a little in front of them and dropped the landing bridge. The two drive the Mako up into the ship. The ship takes off back through the atmosphere.

"I overheard Saren speak to some of his Geth that he was going to send them to a planet called Noveria. It's an ice world and very cold. I am not sure what he was planning to do there though."

Axel pondered the situation for a moment, and then punched his coordinates into the star map. The ship made its way to the mass relay and shoots them into hyperspace.

"It will take us a little bit of time to get to Noveria, feel free to explore the ship and do whatever. I don't have another room here; you can take my room for the night and ill sleep down in the med lab."

Sara a little surprised by his offer smiled and politely rejected Axel's offer.

"With all due respect I would like to be the one in the med lab. I have been around them most of my life and would feel a lot more comfortable in that type of environment."

Axel gave a dumbfounded look to her and just laughed.

"Suit yourself, I am going to go lay back down and rest this wounds been taking a toll on me all day."

Axel leaves Sara to do whatever she wishes. Twelve hours later the ship leaves hyperspace and is in orbit of Noveria. A communication team from Noveria signals the ship."

"Greetings and welcome to Noveria, Our station is not accepting visitors right now, due to facility malfunctions. If you do not accept the terms and land in our docking bay, you will be placed under arrest."

Axel let out a laugh.

"Tell your security team we'll meet you guys at the docking bay."

Axel cut the transmission off and gets up. He turns around and bumps into Sara.

"Looks like things might get a little ugly. I suggest we give this security team a proper welcome aboard my ship."

Sara looked at Axel and only nodded. The two run down to the cargo bay of the ship and each grab a weapon and ammunition. The ship docks into the Noveria docking bay. The two anxiously await the door to open. As soon as the ships loading bay door opened, gunfire Ignited…


	4. Chapter 4

Mass Effect: Surreptitious

Chapter Four:

Another cold afternoon had come to Noveria. However, this day was different. A Matriarch was coming to the planet along with a huge shipment of something. Nobody really knew the details besides that. Other than that it seemed like an average day working in the Noveria facilities. Noveria security detained an outsider for attempting to hack into their company files and discover more about this Matriarch and what kind of shipment she was bringing along.

"This is a pretty serious crime you know, hacking into company secrets especially with a high profile individual involved."

Noveria security walked back and forth in a room, with another individual sitting in a chair tied up.

"Not going to talk are you? Well that's alright we have ways of making guys like you talk."

One of the guards strikes the individual in the face with his fist. The guard noticing it barely fazed the person in the chair continued to swing and hit the individual tied up.

"Alright that's enough for now. We don't want to kill him before we have any answers."

The guard who was hitting the individual gave a small chuckle and punched the person tied up one more time.

"Yeah I guess you're right. Once we break this little punk his ass is mine. I'll send him a message about what we think of hackers."

Just as the guard was going to hit him again, security alarms started going haywire. A computerized voice came through the speakers all over the facility.

"Alert, alert, alert…Security breach in the loading bay area. Shots fired… all security personal report to main building immediately."

The two guards immediately ran out of the room leaving the individual alone in the room tied up. He began to wiggle around relentlessly in the chair trying to free up his limbs. After a few minutes he successfully managed to get both of his legs free. Not being able to use his arms would be a challenge, but the guards had no idea who this man was.

"Humph, amateurs."

Blood still flowing from his nose and cuts on his face the man made his way over to the door and managed to open it using one of his feet. There was nobody in the hallway. It seemed as if the building had been completely evacuated. Making his way down the hallway he came to a storage room for the guards. One particular item lying on a desk caught his eyes, it was a knife. Quickly rushing over to the desk he attempted to grab the knife and cut through the rope. After a few minutes of trying he successfully managed to get completely free.

Gunfire was intensifying as he moved through the halls. The facility was so loud it sounded like he was in the middle of a warzone. Peering around a corner he had to now be even more cautious, being so close to the fighting. Then out of nowhere an eerie silence fell upon the facility. The man saw this as an opportunity to run. Getting up and moving as fast as he could he made a run for the docking bay. As he was running he attempted to turn left at the end of the hallway only to run into a girl.

"Ouch! Ahhhh! Get him Axel!

"He's not a guard; he may just be a civilian."

The man then grabbed Sara and brought her to her feet and held her hostage with his knife. Axel immediately pulled his gun on the guy.

"Alright bud, I don't know who you are, where you came from, or what you've done. If you don't let the girl go however, ill add your dead carcass to the pile of guards we killed."

The man carefully observed Axel to see if he was bluffing. He was about to let her go when suddenly Axel acted. Using his biotics, he pulled the knife away from the man, and then he threw his arm forward and threw the man backwards into the wall. The fatigue was starting to catch up with Axel, he fell down to one knee clearly exhausted.

Sara rushed over to Axel to make sure he was okay then turned her gun on the man.

"What do you want to do Axel? You're clearly fatigued I don't think we'll survive against too many more waves of guards."

The man Axel threw slowly made his way to his feet.

"I am sorry I meant you no harm. I have obtained important data from the company's computers and need to get off this planet as soon as I can."

Axel and Sara stare at the man still holding him at gun point.

"What kind of information are we talking about here?" asked Axel.

The man clearly didn't trust Axel or Sara, but didn't think he had to many more options of escaping this planet with the two of them.

"If you can take me off this planet and lead me to the citadel, I will show you the information I hacked and received."

The man hoped this would be enough to get them to allow him onto their ship.

"Unless that information contains information about Saren or Commander Shepherd you're shit out of luck my friend."

The man seemed surprised.

"It is information about Saren."

Axel looked at Sara and the two nodded. The three rushed back to Axel's ship and took off heading for the mass relay as quick as they could. The three sit down at a table to discuss the next step in their journey.

"Thanks for taking me with you, I'm sorry I held you hostage Sara, I didn't know if you were working for the security teams there. My name is Chris. Your biotics are very impressive; if I wouldn't have been so worried about getting out of there I would have used some biotics of my own."

Axel just glared at Chris. Sara seemed to be very interested in conversing with him.

"Are you only a biotic?" Sara asked curiously.

"I know many biotic powers, but my real skill shines in the technology field. If you couldn't guess, I excel the most in hacking."

Axel at the point was becoming clearly irritated with Chris talking to Sara. Axel jumped up from his chair and pulled his gun on Chris.

"Enough bullshitting, it's time to give me the information before I shoot your ass and throw your body out into space."

Sara seemed intimidated and a little frightened of Axel's sudden outburst, but remained silent. Chris stared at Axel an evil glare.

"Strict business I see is the only thing you care about. Very well, a deal is a deal after all. If you can direct me to your ships computer I will upload the information."

Chris gave Axel a sinister smile. Axel motioned for him to follow. Chris stood up and started to walk away when Sara grabbed his arm to wait.

"I apologize; he's not normally like that from what I've seen. When you two are through, I would like to talk more with you if that's okay."

Chris looked at her, smiled, then walked ahead to meet up with Axel. Axel pointed the computer out to Chris. Chris sat down and inserted the disk into it. A few menus popped up and then an AI was released into the ship.

"Damn you I should have known!" Axel yelled.

He smacked Chris in the back of the head with his pistol rendering him unconscious. Sara came running into the room to see Axel pointing his pistol at Chris's forehead.

"Axel do not do this!" She pleaded.

"The son of a bitch put an AI into the ships system! For all we know we could be on a first class ride into the nearest sun."

"That is where you are wrong. My name is VBI. I am an AI unit created by Chris to assist him with his missions. The current course is to go to the citadel. You cannot override my commands yourself; you will need Chris to do this."

Axel was furious. He wanted to shoot this newcomer and just toss his dead corpse out into space. That however was no longer an option. Sara walked up to Axel to try and calm him down. He pushed her away and stormed out of the room.

"I believe that man has quite the temper. He has nothing to fear of myself or Chris though." Said VBI.

"I can't believe an actual working AI. I thought having any form of AI was illegal?" Asked Sara.

"You're correct. I am not considered legal. However, Chris has put a lot of time into developing me, I will not cause harm to anything unless I am instructed to by him."

Sara looked down at Chris. She threw his arm over her shoulder and picked him up. She took him down into the tech labs and laid him down there. Sara then left and went to find Axel. Axel was down in the cargo bay kicking a wooden box.

"You know if you want to open that it would be easier to just pull the top off of it."

Axel looked up at her with a disgusted look on his face.

"I can't believe I allowed that to happen. I may not ever have control over this damn ship again. When he wakes up he is going to remove that AI, give me the information, and I am going to put a bullet between his eyes!"

Sara looked down at him confused. Maybe it was just her love for technology that kept her so intrigued of Chris and VBI. She turned around and left to go and study VBI. A few hours later Chris woke up from. Sara was sitting next to the bed he was laying on leaning on it herself fast asleep.

"What a headache, I hope I wasn't using my biotics while I was asleep again. Why is she here? Where am I? How did I end up here?"

Chris was talking to loud, but it awoke Sara.

"How are you feeling? Axel kind of overreacted and hit you in the back of the head with his pistol once you put VBI into the ships systems."

Chris gave a chuckle and smiled.

"Well he did ask me for the information, and VBI is the one who has it all. All he did was delay getting his information by knocking me out."

Sara burst into laughter.

"Yeah he was down in the cargo bay relieving some of that stress by kicking a crate around. We should be pulling into the citadel in a few hours. What do you have to do there?"

Chris didn't want to tell her everything, but he felt he could trust her.

"I have some information I am selling to the Shadow Broker. Luckily for you guys I am giving it to you for free!"

As the two were talking Axel came bursting into the room.

"Get your ass up and give me the information."

Chris sighed and jumped up and did some stretches.

"You know when somebody wants some information they usually ask nicely and get what they want."

Axel threw his arm back and then forward sending a push force attack at Chris. Chris knocked Sara backwards and did the same thing. The force from both attacks hitting each other nearly destroyed the tech lab. Axel surprised by what just happened left the room angrily.

"What's with that guy? He could have hurt you, or ended up killing us all."

Sara looked to Chris and shook her head.

"I don't know, I just hope we survive the rest of the trip to the citadel."


	5. Chapter 5

Mass Effect: Surreptitious

Chapter Five:

A few hours later the ship had finally arrived at the citadel. It would take a little time before they were given clearance to land. While waiting, Chris began to clean the lab that had nearly been destroyed. Sara set out to look for Axel. She found him sitting next to the galaxy map. He didn't move or say anything. Sara decided to break the ice.

"Is everything okay? You've been different since Noveria."

Axel looked up at her and seemed to relax.

"I just don't trust him. I don't know what it is about that guy, but something about him says trouble. Once we get onto the citadel and get the information we need, we'll go separate ways. I'll feel better, more at ease with him not here."

Sara understood his feelings, but had a different opinion of Chris.

"I know you two don't exactly see eye to eye, but he could be a very valuable part of this crew. After all, it's just the two of us right now as it is."

Sara was about to say more when she was interrupted by a voice transmission coming from the citadel.

"Thank you for your patience, you now have clearance to land. Enjoy your stay."

Axel didn't hesitate and moved to bring the ship into the massive station. The citadel served as a central hub for all the races of the galaxy. The council made up of Asari, Turian, and Salarian leaders is also located there.

Once the ship docked Chris emerged from the lab.

"Well the lab is back operating once again. Everything that wasn't destroyed is fully functional. If you don't mind "Captain" I need to get back into your system to retrieve VBI."

Axel gave Chris a disgusted look, but nodded his approval. The three exited the ship and headed towards one of the dark alleys. Chris halted and put his hand up to signal Axel and Sara to stop.

"The information I have I am giving to a very dangerous Salarian scientist. Avoid eye contact with him, if he asks who either of you are just identify yourselves as a couple of people that work for me. With a little bit of luck we will make it out of here alive."

Chris let out a chuckle and continued on. Sara looked at Axel.

"I must have missed the punch line in that joke."

The two then trailed Chris into the alleyway. The three walked side by side when a voice called out from the shadows.

"That's far enough you three. One more step and it will be your last."

A Salarian emerged from the shadows and quickly surveyed his surroundings.

"Just here to give you the information. You have nothing to worry about from us." Chris said.

The Salarian turned his gaze towards Axel and Sara. His gaze shifted back and forth a few times.

"You've always been working alone Chris, why are these two here? Did you bring them for me? Test subjects perhaps? I have many uses for humans indeed."

Chris let out a laugh.

"No my friend, these are a couple people I met while I was on Noveria. They are working for me just for the time being."

A sinister smile broke upon the Salarian's face. He threw up his hand and pointed to Sara and then to Axel.

"I want them both. How much do you want for them? I can pay you handsomely."

Once the Salarian revealed that, Chris's entire attitude changed. It seemed like he turned into another person completely. The relaxed, funny, care-free guy was gone. Chris stepped forward and smacked the Salarians hand away from pointing at Sara and Alex. He rushed forward and threw another shot into the Salarians chest. Caught off guard by the sudden attack the Salarian fell to the ground. Before he could act, Chris fired a warning shot into the ground near him. The Salarian froze in place.

"I advise you take this information and get the hell out of here before I lost my temper."

A threatening aura engulfed Chris. The Salarian nodded. Chris tossed him an envelope. He grabbed the envelope and began to make his way out of the ally. Slowly back pedaling at first. Once he felt he was at a safe range the Salarian yelled back.

"This was the biggest mistake of your insignificant lives; you guys won't make it off the citadel alive I promise you."

As soon as the threat was out, he disappeared. Chris turned to Axel and Sara.

"If you all have any plans here, you may want to do attend to them quickly. While it wasn't smart of him to threaten us like that, I do believe he meant what he said and is going to try and come up with a way to kill us either one by one or all at the same time."

Axel, Sara, and Chris took off into a sprint. Chris and Sara were ahead of Axel when suddenly a member of citadel security tackled Axel. Chris and Sara stopped and were going to help when Axel called out.

"Just go, get the hell out of here!"

Sara was unwilling at first, but Chris pulled her in his direction and the two began running again. Back aboard Axel ship, Sara began pacing and panicking.

"We can't just leave him here, what are we going to do?"

Chris sat down for a minute thinking. He inserted VBI back into the ship.

"VBI, I need you to hack into Citadel systems, I need blue prints of the C-Sec holding area."

VBI interrupted Chris.

"Would you like to get in contact with your Citadel assassin contact?"

Chris pondered the situation.

"She is going to want hazard pay for this, but what the hell let's give it a shot. I hope those bastards are ready, they are in for one hell of a surprise."


	6. Chapter 6

Mass Effect: Surreptitious

Chapter Six:

"Go! Hurry it up move your asses!"

"We're almost to the ship, just keep running!"

"What about your contact?"

"She can handle herself just keep moving!"

Sara, Chris, and Axel sprint towards the ship avoiding gunfire. A few feet away from the ship an explosion rocks the Citadel. The force knocks them backwards knocking out Sara and Axel. Chris was laying there fading in and out of consciousness, the only thing he could make out was a Salarian reaching down grabbing him before he blacked out.

**3 hours earlier…**

"I have successfully got a hold of your contact Chris. She will be here momentarily to discuss the price. Is there anything else you require of me?" VBI asked.

"No, that's all for now. I'm going to upload you back to my computer for now."

Chris leaned back in his seat thinking. Sara was still panicking and pace frantically.

"We have to save him Chris, please tell me you'll do everything in your power to make sure he's okay." Sara pleaded.

Chris looked at her and smiled.

"Don't worry everything is under control. We'll soon have "Captain" Axel back on board blowing up our labs again in no time!" Chris joked.

"I'm being serious here! You were just as responsible for doing that, for the record." Sara corrected him.

"I'm just trying to calm you down. Everything will be sorted out here eventually."

About forty-five minutes pass. Chris was now waiting outside the ship waiting for his contact, when an Asari in a black skin tight leather suit came walking towards him. Chris approached her with open arms. As he approached her he ran into a gun aimed at his upper chest.

"You're still as careless as ever I see Chris."

Chris let a smile slip and winked slyly at the Asari.

"You know beautiful girls like yourself are my weakness."

The Asari lowered her gun and laughed.

"I need to know the details of this mission you have for me, and anything else you can give me to help me out."

Chris beckoned her onto the ship so they could plan the rescue. Chris placed his computer on top of a desk.

"VBI, if you could give Syntalia the maps of the C-sec holding block and anything else you were able to obtain."

"I certainly can Chris, sending the data now."

Syntalia sat down going over the information relentlessly. After five minutes of her looking over the information she had a plan and was ready to go.

"Chris, I need you and Sara to wait in this alley here. I will enter from the roof of this building. Leave everything else to me." Syntalia explained.

Chris looked over everything then asked.

"Where do you plan to exit with Axel?"

Syntalia grinned wickedly.

"We're going to be leaving through the front door."

Sara chimed in.

"What do you want us to do?"

Syntalia looked at her and smiled.

"Just kick back and relax princess. I wouldn't want you to break a nail. As soon as you see us come through the front door you three need to run to the ship and get the hell out of here."

Sara was clearly irritated at Syntalia's comment.

"And what about you, what are you going to do?"

Syntalia smiled casually.

"If I told you that I would have to kill you."

Chris and Sara moved to the location Syntalia instructed them to and waited. Syntalia on the roof of the C-Sec building began to make her move. Entering from the roof she made her way down the stairs and entered the first room she encountered. The good news was she wasn't too far away from Axel. The bad news is there is a bunch of guards heavily armed. Looking around the room to make sure she was clear, Syntalia jumped up on top of a desk in the room and made her way into the ventilation shaft. Making her way through the ventilation shaft she found herself above the room Axel was located in. Axel was sitting in a chair with his hands bound by rope. Nobody was in the room with Axel. Syntalia slipped down into the room and landed next to Axel.

"Who the hell are you, another C-Sec officer trying to get information out of me? Well guess what I'm still not going to talk."

Syntalia looked around. She reached into one of her pockets and grabbed a knife and cut the bonds holding him. She grabbed him and pulled him to his feet.

"Listen close we don't have much time. Sara and Chris sent me to help get you out of here. We need to…"

She was cut off. An alarm was ringing all throughout the C-Sec holding building. A man came bursting into the room with his gun drawn. Syntalia charged him. With an upward swing she disarmed the man. Following the disarm she spun around grabbing the man and pulling him into the room with her. She threw the man to the floor and motioned for Axel to do something. It wouldn't be long until more security officers came. Axel grabbed the man and placed him in a sleeper hold. The man passed out. Syntalia motioned for Axel to follow her. The two made their way down the hall way. Shouts started to surface from behind them.

"There they are. Get them!"

Axel looked at Syntalia as they ran through the building.

"Which way are we taking out of here?"

"The front entrance, Chris and Sara are waiting for us there."

Two guards were guarding the front entrance. Axel ran ahead of Syntalia and used his biotics to disarm the guards. He then thrust his arm forward knocking them out of the way. Axel kicked open the front door.

"I'll hold them off you guys get the hell out of here." Syntalia yelled.

Axel took off running. Chris and Sara noticed and immediately started running after. They attracted the attention of many guards on the way out. Gunfire was raining down on the three off them.

"Go! Hurry it up move your asses!" Chris yelled.

"We're almost to the ship, just keep running!" Axel Yelled.

"What about your contact?" Sara asked.

"She can handle herself just keep moving!" Chris yelled.

Sara, Chris, and Axel sprint towards the ship avoiding gunfire. A few feet away from the ship an explosion rocks the Citadel. The force knocks them backwards knocking out Sara and Axel. The blast had been Axel's ship being destroyed. Chris was laying there fading in and out of consciousness; the only thing he could make out was a Salarian reaching down grabbing him. He then blacked out.


	7. Chapter 7

Mass Effect: Surreptitious

Chapter Seven:

"Citadel Security has considered the ship that blew up early last night was not an act of terrorism, and the breach into C-Sec was a drill being run and not a prisoner escape like many rumors have suggested."

Since news of the explosion reached the media, everyone on the citadel began to use more caution. A Krogan sat alone in Chora's Den listening to the news.

"Humph, bullshit if you ask me. We all know damn well this wasn't a coincidence."

Irritated by the news the Krogan rose from his seat and left the bar. As soon as he left the bar, he heard a familiar voice.

"It's been a while Chax. I was hoping…"

Before the sentence could be finished Chax through his arm at the individual. The Krogan's brute strength collided with the wall missing his target. Enraged by this, Chax rushed forward in a bloodied rage straight at the individual. The individual now become clear, she was an Asari. Unphased by the charging Krogan, the Asari stood her ground. She lunged forward and hit the Krogan paralyzing him with a stasis field. Chax was un-able to continue charging.

"You shouldn't have come here Syntalia. Once you let me loose I'm going to kill you. Do you think I forgot what happened? You have some nerve showing your face to me, after what you did!"

Syntalia walked up to Chax and wrapped her arm around him.

"Now Chax, I know we've had our…disagreements in the past, but I am here strictly on business."

Her words seemed to anger Chax even more.

"I don't give a damn about your business. You betrayed me once; I won't let it happen again. If you don't kill me right now as soon as this field is let down I will make sure your ass is pushing up daisies in the morning."

Syntalia began to laugh hysterically. Her facial expression then suddenly changed and became serious.

"Listen up and listen good, I am only going to say this once. A Salarian scientist was responsible for making that ship explode. That's not what I am worried about however. He took three of my "business partners" hostage in the process. I am going to go free them and I want your help. I knew it would be "troublesome" for you to see to this, but I have an offer you can't refuse. I have information for you of a scientist working to cure the Genophage."

This statement peaked Chax's interest. The Krogan began to calm himself.

"How do I know you're telling the truth? How do I know you won't just betray me again once the task is done?"

Syntalia let the krogan go and walked to the front of him. She lowered the stasis field around him. She reached into her back pocket and grabbed a data disk. Un-expectantly, she threw it to the Krogan. Chax caught the disk and carefully examined it.

"There you have the information upfront. Now are you going to help me or should I kill you and burn the disk?"

Chax looked down at the disk again and began thinking. After a few moments's he nodded at her.

"Why are you interested in saving these three individuals?

Syntalia shot him a wicked grin.

"I finished a job and before I could get paid, this happened. If I rescue them I can turn this into hazard pay."

Syntalia turned around and walked off. She waved her hand signaling Chax to follow her. The two left Chora's den and hopped into Syntalia's vehicle and flew off.

"It's time to wake up."

A hard punch hit Chris in the chest. Alarmed and surprised Chris shot awake in pain. The room he was in was dark; he couldn't see a thing.

"Ah, you're finally awake. That's good. Now the fun can begin!"

A blinding light flashed. Chris was strapped to what appeared to be a medical bed. Axel and Sara were in the same room tied up to chairs. Both had blindfolds on and restraints over their mouths.

"Let them go Paroth! This is between you and me." Chris yelled.

Paroth appeared into the light walking around Chris's medical bed.

"No, no, no now it is going to be fun. We are going to have many experiments. I genius I will become. I'll be a hero amongst my people."

Paroth turned his attention to Axel and Sara. He walked over and stood in front of them. He removed their blindfolds. Axel immediately began struggling to get free.

"Interesting how this one struggles. He wants to hurt me I can feel it. The female she looks terrified. Why is this? You human's are strange creatures. So much I can learn about you. Who is first though? I am so excited I can't choose. I think, yes she will do."

"Put a hand on her and it will be the last thing you ever do you son of a bitch!" Chris yelled.

Paroth looked at Chris suspiciously.

"Very interesting, you must have feelings for this one, yes? Then I should definitely start with her!"

Paroth grabbed Sara and cut the ropes holding her down. He grabbed her by the hair and threw her to the floor. Axel began to struggle even more. Chris thought about using some of his biotic power's, but if it backfired it could end up killing them all. Then an explosion knocked the door of the room they were in off its hinges.

A Krogan and Asari emerged from the wreckage. Paroth looked a little stunned, but not surprised.

"Chax, I see you have brought me another subject to experiment with? I just wish you wouldn't use such forceful entries like that."

Syntalia looked surprised then turned her gun on Chax. Chax still with his gun drawn towards Paroth noticed this, but continued to keep his gun on Paroth.

"Not this time Paroth, we may have worked together in the past since I am a bounty hunter, but that's all about to change. I'm here for those humans. Release them before I lose my temper."

Syntalia continued to observe him. Her gun remained pointed at Chax. Paroth charged Chris and pulled out a syringe. He jammed it into Chris's leg right as Chax fired his weapon, killing Paroth. Syntalia lowered her weapon and ran over to Chris. Chax walked over to Sara and helped her to her feet, then proceeded to free Axel.

Syntalia worried about Chris, removed the syringe. Chax untied him. Chris sat up looking like he was entering a daze.

"Take…me…to…my ship…get VBI inserted into the systems…have her run an analysis of this…"

Chris fell over. Chax and Syntalia picked him up. She looked back at Sara and Axel.

"You two do whatever the hell you want. My job of saving your asses is complete. We need to get him to his ship. If you two are coming, move your asses."

Sara looked up at Axel and nodded.

Axel thought to himself. "Just let the bastard die, we'll take his ship and get the hell out of here."

Axel nodded at Sara and they followed Chax and Syntalia.


	8. Chapter 8

Mass Effect: Surreptitious

Chapter Eight:

Chax and Syntalia while carrying Chris sprinted toward a medium sized ship. A first glance at the ship reminded them of seeing an alliance navy vessel only smaller. Sara and Axel followed closely behind.

"How did that bastard get a ship like this?" Axel thought to himself.

Making their way up the dock and into the ships medical bay, Chax laid Chris down on a medical bed. Panicking, Syntalia began to look for VBI. Sara sprinted over to her to where Chris laid and reached into his pocket pulling out a disk. Syntalia grabbed the disk and quickly inserted it into a nearby terminal.

"Alright I'm out of here." Chax explained.

"That's it you're just going to leave like that?" Syntalia questioned him.

Chax looked up at her and glared.

"Look here bitch, I don't trust you. I completed my end of the agreement. I have no reason of staying here." Chax snarled.

Syntalia gave him a disgusted look then turned her attention to VBI. Sara ran over to the krogan and examined him for a moment. She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder as he was leaving. A little startled, Chax stopped and turned around.

"Please don't leave Chax we really need your help." Sara pleaded.

"There is nothing I can do for him human. Besides I have this data for a cure for the Genophage. My people have suffered long enough I need to take this back and give it to my clan." Chax said.

Chax looked back as Syntalia was rushing to help Chris any way VBI instructed her too. He looked to Sara.

"Keep an eye on the Asari. When you least expect it she will turn on you. She only cares for herself." Chax warned.

A little startled by the warning, Sara nodded and took her hand off his shoulder. She then turned to look for Axel who was nowhere in sight. Sara left the medical bay to go and find him. Chax sighed and turned around and walked back over by Syntalia.

"Running medical diagnostics…Searching for infections…Calculating possible antidote…"

VBI was doing everything she could to help provide any information of what was wrong with Chris. Syntalia was panicking, running back and forth relentlessly when Chax grabbed her. She turned around and immediately thought he was going to kill her. Why not? He had every right and the power to do so there, but he didn't.

Chax looked her in the eyes then bowed his head.

"What can I do to help?"

A smile broke out on her face.

**Meanwhile…**

Axel walked curiously throughout the ship looking at all the installed systems, armory, and anything else he could see to get information of where the ship came from. He made his way to the galaxy map and noticed the ship had coordinates for places outside of Citadel space out into the terminus systems. Axel looked around to make sure nobody was around and inserted a disk into the system and began copying all the coordinates he could.

"Axel? What are you doing?"

Axel jumped. He didn't expect anyone to be around this soon, not before he had more information. He looked at Sara and waved her over to look at the console.

"He has coordinates for the terminus systems and other places I haven't heard of. I'm "borrowing" them from him."

Sara gave him a strange look.

"Why don't you trust Chris?" She asked.

Axel looked at her and then back at the disk.

"Just look at this ship. This isn't your average ship. The technology in here is that one would expect to find on an Alliance Military vessel. He's hiding something and I don't want us to all risk our lives waiting to see what it is."

Sara didn't approve of his method, but nodded at him. She turned to leave and Axel stopped her.

"Can I ask you something Sara?"

Sara was surprised by the serious look in his face.

"Yes…" She cautiously replied.

"If something was to happen and you had to make a choice between saving me or Chris, who would you choose?"

Sara was shocked at the thought of the question. She couldn't believe what she just heard.

"Don't ask me to choose a side Axel. We all are after a common goal and that's eliminating Saren." She replied.

Axel was clearly disappointed with her answer, but didn't say anything else to her. Sara turned away and left.

**Two hours later**

"Analysis complete, Chris seems to be stabilizing. An unknown parasite still resides inside his body. The Virus poses no threat to his health currently. I will continue to monitor it and search for a cure." VBI explained.

Syntalia exhaled a sigh of relief. She walked over to Chax and put her hand out for him to shake it. Chax however was unwilling to do it. She put her hand back down at her side and walked by him.

"Thanks Chax. I know it doesn't mean much coming from someone like me, but I appreciate your help."

Chax snarled.

"You did a great deed for me and the Krogan race by giving me this, Staying and helping you for a little bit is the least I can do."

Syntalia smiled and left the medical bay.

**Five hours later**

Axel, Sara, Syntalia, and Chax made a circle around the galaxy map. The four had been debating the next plan of action.

"I don't know where to go, but we can't stay here forever. Those C-Sec guards are going to find us eventually if we just continue to play around in their backyard." Axel explained.

"Where do you recommend we go oh fearless self appointed leader?" Syntalia asked.

"As far as I'm concerned you all are on board going with me because we all have ties with either Shepherd or Saren. If you don't like it get the hell off the ship!" Axel yelled.

Chax raised his shotgun and aimed it at Axel.

"Listen here human, if you think we're going to sit here and take shit from you, you're dead wrong. I've killed tons of your kind give me a reason why I shouldn't blow your head clean off right now." Chax warned.

"Because I'm the one in charge and I'd appreciate it if you didn't get blood all over my galaxy map Chax."

Everyone turned around and noticed Chris standing in the door way. Syntalia rushed over to him to aide him walking.

"I'm fine, but thanks for the offer. VBI hasn't been able to come up with a cure to whatever is inside me yet, but she insists I'm fine." Chris explained.

Axel seemed to get even more irritated even though Chris seemed to have saved his life.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah it's good that you're better, but now what the hell do we do? Where are we going?" Axel asked.

Chris smiled and inserted a disk into the galaxy map. VBI popped up.

"VBI access encrypted file 0-741." Chris said.

"Encrypted file located, now loading the information…Information of a human colony located on planet Feros has lost contact with everyone. Large masses of Geth have been seen in the area…" VBI explained.

"This however was all data picked up a couple weeks ago. News reports are now coming out Commander Amy Shepherd was responsible for saving the colony." Chris said.

"Great so we're back at square one." Axel protested.

"Will you shut the hell up already?" Syntalia pleaded.

"No Axel we're not. Saren is looking for something and going to bring war to Citadel space. We're going to recruit some more individuals to help us lead a resistance against him. We'll never be able to catch up to Saren or Commander Shepherd, but we can wait for them and be ready to help when the time is needed."

Axel blocked out most of what Chris was saying. As more time went on the further Commander Shepherd seemed to be from him. He did however agree with the waiting for the war to come to them.

"There is five of us here surely, we all know some more individuals who would be willing to help us out." Chris said.

Axel stepped forward.

"We need to head to Earth. I know a few people who would be of use to us if they are still alive and not in a prison cell somewhere."

Chris looked surprised, but agreed with him.

"Very well our first stop will be Earth. Anyone else have any suggestions?" Chris Asked.

The rest of the group fell silent. The plan was set and everyone was ready to move out. Axel was the first to leave the room.

"They are going to regret everything one of these days. Nobody threatens or mocks me and gets away with it." Axel thought to himself.

He clutched his fist as he walked. The rest of the group began preparing for the trip. The ship pulled out of the docking area and flew off to the outer section of the station. The ship hit the relay and was launched on its way towards Earth.

Now orbiting the megatropolis that covered Earth, Axel told Chris to head towards what used to be Florida. The ship touched down and now it was time to find the group of people Axel knew. Axel rushed down the docking ramp and turned around looking at the others.

"I'll go get them the rest of you can get some rest, and plan ahead for our upcoming fight."

Chris looked at everyone else. They all nodded in approval. It had been a long time since they had been able to relax and have some time to themselves. They made their way back into the ship. Axel took off heading north. A sinister smile covered his face. Everything was going to work out as he planned.


	9. Chapter 9

Mass Effect: Surreptitious

Chapter Nine:

Many hours went by and still there was no sign of Axel. The rest on the ship enjoyed the rest they had been given, but still worried for his well being. The four sat around the star map and gazed at it. Sara was uneasy.

"I need to let you guys know something." She said.

Everyone turned their attention to her.

"I'm worried about Axel. Chris when you were out in the medical bay, he asked me a sort of pick me or you question. I told him not to put me in a situation like that. He didn't like my answer I'm sure of it. I know he has been becoming a colder person in general…"

Tears began to roll down Sara's face. Syntalia put her arm on Sara's shoulder.

"If anything bad happens to the group Sara and you were forced to be in a situation like that. I expect you to have Axel's back. You two have been traveling for some time now and know each other better. I don't know what he has against me, but this kind of thing can get dangerous and innocent people like yourself can be tossed into the middle of it and get hurt or killed. That goes for everyone here. It's not worth throwing your lives away siding with me if it could get you killed. I've always been a loner…" Chris explained.

Syntalia stood up and slapped Chris before he could finish his sentence.

"If you think I'm just going to abandon you for some arrogant punk who thinks he owns the world you're wrong. I've known you for a long time we've been through good times and bad times together and survived. I'm not going anywhere for now. You're stuck with me."

Chax seemed to enjoy all of this.

"You humans sure are strange. I don't know you very well Chris, so you have my full trust. Abuse that and it will be the last thing you ever do. After all, someday Syntalia and I have a quarrel that we need to solve."

Syntalia and Chax shot each other looks of death, but agreed someday they may come to blows and wind up killing each other. Chris looked down at the ground. It was clear he was in deep thought about everything going on. How could he be so blind to see everything that was happening? He turned around and grabbed an assault rifle and headed towards the ships exit. Sara ran after him fearing what he was going to do.

"Chris! Where are you going?" Sara called out.

"I'm going to find Axel; he's been gone long enough. Something has happened." Chris replied.

"There is no need for that I'm right here." A voice called back.

Chris and Sara looked and saw Axel standing next to another human and a Turian. Chris walked up to Axel.

"Any trouble finding everyone?"

Axel was disgusted that he was being spoken to by Chris.

"I told you guys I would handle it. We're going to one of the prisons to get our third recruit just so you're aware…'Captain'." Axel responded.

Chris could detect the hostility in his voice, but only smiled and waved everyone aboard the ship. With everyone back on board the ship Axel introduced his companions.

"This guy here is a good friend of mine. Meet Damien. He's the best hacker on the planet. I'm not trying to brag this is a fact. He's wanted on every continent for his cyber crimes."

Damien stepped forward and smiled.

"This Turian is one of the toughest sons of bitches I know. We've been in countless fights and he has been shot more times than can be counted. Bastard is still alive and ready to kick some ass. Garrik is his name.

Axel couldn't have described him any better. Garrik had scars all over his armor and body, including his face.

"Our last member we're going after is a sniper. I'm not exactly sure what she is in prison for, but she is dangerous behind a scope. Her precision with a sniper rifle is unmatched. She's being held on the ship Horizon-0361. I have the ships coordinates also we need to make a move now the ship never stays in the same spot for long." Axel explained.

Chris took the set of coordinates from Axel and put them into the star map. The ship took off; they could only hope they would make it in time.

**15 hours later…**

Upon arriving at the coordinates Axel gave a distress signal was picked up by their ship. VBI decoded the message and played it for everyone. A prison guard was standing in front of a screen, alarms were going off in the back ground.

"Anyone out there please send us immediate assistance! It's complete chaos here the prisoner's have rioted and have nearly taken full control of the ship. Please if there is anyone out there we need…."

The message cut off. Axel turned around looking at Damien and Garrik. The two nodded at him and began to heavily stock up on ammo for their weapons.

"We need to move our asses before the prisoners make their way to Raven's location." Axel ordered.

The ship docked next to the Horizon. The ship was massive. There was no way in telling how many prisoners could be waiting for them upon entering. Axel, Damien, Garrik, and Chax geared up heavily as they prepared to board the prison ship. Chris, Syntalia, and Sara armed themselves as well in case any prisoners tried to take over their ship. Axel looked at the other three with him.

"Is everyone ready to go?"

The three of them nodded their heads and they stormed the Horizon with a relentless pace. Kicking open the door sent two prisoners flying backwards. While the two were in the air Chax burst through the door first shotgun in hand shot; shooting both before they hit the ground.

Damien and Garrik in perfect motion stormed in behind Chax. The two moved further ahead both wielding assault rifles shooting anything moving. Axel the last to enter ran up to the wall and looked at a layout of the ship.

"Raven is located on the second floor. We need to hurry it up."

The group made its way to some stairs. A prison guard was lying in the middle of the floor. Nearly dead, the guard managed to look up at them.

"They…must…not…release…her…"

A sudden silence fell upon the guard. Axel ran up to the guard and searched him for keys. His attempt was successful. The group proceeded to find stairs leading to the floor Raven was located on. Going up the stairs they noticed a bunch of dead prisoners. All of them had fatal shot wounds to their chest or head.

Garrik lead the charge up the stairs. He looked down a long hallway. Lights were flashing on and off. He cautiously moved forward a little more at a time. There was only one way to go down the hallway an ambush could come at any minute. He let his guard down and motioned for the rest of the group, Just as he did a shot was fired ripping through his armor piercing through his right arm.

"Damn it!" Garrik yelled.

The shots impact was massive nearly taking his arm off. The force of the bullet threw Garrik to the ground. Damien moved forward and pulled Garrik back to safety. They had no place to go until this person was dealt with. Chax looked at the wound.

"This is a sniper's doing. Is it possible this is your friend?" Chax Asked.

Axel looked at Chax and began to agree with him.

"If it is her, there is no way we are going to make it down the hallway. I picked up a few of these guys though, we'll travel low to the ground."

Axel showed off a bunch of smoke grenades. Damien stayed behind to help bandage up Garrik. Axel looked over at Chax signaled he was ready and began throwing the grenades one by one down the hallway. Smoke filled the area up quick. Multiple shots were fired, but ended up missing Axel and Chax. As they approached the end of the hallway Chax jumped up and rushed whoever was at the end of the smoke.

"Don't be a fool!" Axel yelled at him.

Shots kept firing, but Chax didn't stop when he breached the end of the smoke and saw the sniper he proceeded to tackle her. Axel jumped up and ran towards him. The Krogan started at the girls face and she stared back. Axel ran up to Chax.

"Hello Raven long time no see."

Chax stepped off of the girl and let her get to her feet. Raven was a beautiful red-head in her mid twenties. She looked at Axel and began to relax. Chax began to stumble around a bit. Axel noticed when he charged Raven he had been shot multiple times in his chest.

"If this Krogan is your friend we need to get him immediate medical attention Axel."

Chax barely conscious looked over at Axel. Axel walked up to Chax. Chax put his arm out for Axel to grab him. Axel smacked his arm away and started walking toward the end of the hallway.

"Leave him Raven, let's get Damien and Garrik and get the hell out of here."

Raven looked at Axel cautiously and reluctantly followed him.

"Axel, you bastard I'm going to kill you!" Chax yelled.

Chax tried to move, but wasn't able to. His wounds were to great and prevented him from doing anything. He couldn't let this be the end. He had information of curing the Genophage after all. Through pure will power he reached up and grabbed a railing. The Krogan pulled himself up to a standing position. He wasn't strong enough to hold it though and fell. Was this the end for him? Chax say himself upward his wound still heavily bleeding. If this was to be the end of him, he was disappointed. He sat there thinking of what he had accomplished in life then closed his eyes.

Axel, Damien, Garrik, and Raven arrived back at the ship. They were eagerly greeted by the rest of the crew. Syntalia was the first to meet them. She noticed Chax wasn't with them.

"Where is Chax?" She asked.

Axel lowered his head; put his arm on her shoulder.

"He didn't make it. He died saving the rest of us." Axel replied.

Shock hit her. They had a history good and bad, but she felt a gut wrenching pain inside. Tears began to fall from her eyes. She stormed off and left to be alone. Chris and Sara had blank looks upon their faces. They couldn't believe what they heard.

Chris stepped forward.

"I'm going to go recover his body, he needs a proper burial."

Axel, Damien, and Garrik stopped him in his tracks.

"I can't let you do that Chris. He gave his life so we could escape. Don't let his death be in vein. Get us the fuck out of here." Axel said.

Something didn't feel right to Chris, but he reluctantly agreed and headed up to star map. Sara was still in disbelief. She left to find Syntalia and comfort her. Raven looked at Axel.

"Are you going to fill me in? What the hell is going on here? Why did you lie to them?"

Axel moved over closer to Raven. He began to whisper in her ear. A disgusted look came over her face, but she was in no place to argue since they had come to the ship and busted her out of the prison.

**2 hours later…**

The ship had undocked from the Horizon and took back off flying into space. The group was still crushed about the loss of Chax. They had all been sitting around the galaxy map pondering their next move. Raven stood up before the group.

"I just want to thank you all for coming all the way out here to rescue me. As you're aware Axel, and his group calls me Raven. This is not my name that was just a codename I went by. Since we are all here together going after Saren or Shepherd you can call me be real name, Ariana."

The group was still silent. Chris jumped up and put his hand out for her to shake it. Ariana was surprised at this, but did the same.

"Welcome aboard Ariana." Chris said.

He smiled at her as he shook his hand. She didn't expect anything like this. When Axel explained his plan to her she came to the conclusion this man was someone who couldn't be trusted. For the first time in her life doubt began to fill her mind in Axel's judgment. Once he welcomed her the two sat back down and it began to get quiet again. The silence was interrupted by VBI.

"Forty-five minutes away from the citadel Chris. Something strange is going on. An enormous ship has entered its orbit and began destroying Council Space ships."

Chris shot forward alarmed by this news. He brought up on screen citadel news. VBI was correct a massive purple looking ship unlike any other he had ever saw was making its way towards the citadel.

"Looks like this is what we've been waiting for. Everyone grab your gear and get ready to move. VBI, get us there as quick as you can."

The group made its way to the armory and began stocking up ammo. Everything had come down to this moment. If they survived they would have the answers to many questions.

**45 minutes later…**

"Citadel security has reported multiple attack waves of Geth all over the citadel. The huge ship that was attacking our ships has clamped onto the citadel now and continues to shoot down allied ships…"

VBI took control of the ship and landed it in an alliance district of the citadel. The reporters weren't lying the invading ship was massive and had superior technology. The group made their way down to the docking bay.

"Protect civilians at all costs. If this is what we think it is, Shepherd and Saren are here. We're bound to come across one of them if not both. Watch each other out there and be safe."

Everyone looked at Chris nodded and moved toward the masses of Geth…


	10. Chapter 10

Mass Effect: Surreptitious

Chapter Ten:

The human district of the citadel had almost no defenses against the Geth. This made it look like a massive and endless amount of invaders. Chris rushed forward and stopped up against a wall. Gun fire rained down on him. He drew the attention of multiple Geth giving the others a perfect opportunity to take them down with ease. The area was cleared about five minutes later.

"We need to split our team up." Chris said.

Axel moved to the front of the group.

"Alright then Sara, Damien, and Ariana you three come with me. We're going to attack from the right side the rest of you head to the left. We'll meet up when we get to citadel tower."

The two groups split up. Although they were still in each other's sight, they each had their own battles to focus on.

Chris, Garrik, and Syntalia made their way through one of the alley ways. Moving cautiously they didn't want to attract too much attention. Garrik moved further ahead. Chris and Syntalia stayed further back making sure something didn't jump out behind him.

"Garrik, you need to slow down some!" Chris called out.

The call seemed to fall upon deaf ears though. Garrik kept moving further and further ahead until he was out of Chris and Syntalia's view. Syntalia stopped and raised her hand motioning for Chris to stop.

"I don't like this Chris. Something isn't right. Be ready for anything."

Chris agreed with her. Why did he take off from this group? He didn't have long to think. A patrol of Geth became visible up ahead. The Geth spotted the two of them. Quickly hiding behind walls Chris and Syntalia took cover.

"We don't have time for this!" Chris yelled.

He came out from around the corner and attempted to use his biotics. This time however nothing happened. He immediately became fatigued although he hadn't done anything. He dropped down to his knees and fell back behind the wall for cover. Syntalia rushed over to make sure he was okay.

"It's the damn virus that bastard injected me with. I can't use my biotic powers right now."

The patrol of Geth moved forward. Syntalia rushed from the wall. She put one of the Geth into a stasis field restricting its movements. Continuing to move forward she threw her hand in an outward motion causing a forceful push onto another Geth destroying it from the impact. The last Geth in the patrol aimed its sights at Syntalia, but was then lifted off the ground. Syntalia aimed her pistol at it and fired killing it. Walking by to Chris the Geth trapped in the stasis field started to break free, but it was too late. A bullet pierced its head destroying it.

Above everyone on the Citadel the massive ship continued to shoot down any other ship that approached it and challenged it. Syntalia walked back over to Chris and helped him up. The two of them continued making their way through the alley. Syntalia looked ahead and saw Garrik standing a few yards away.

"Where the hell have you been?" Syntalia questioned him.

Garrik didn't say anything. He instead drew a knife and lunged at Chris. Syntalia pushed him out of the way, but was unfortunate as the knife landed in her left shoulder. Agonizing pain began to run its course throughout her body. Garrik smiled as he ripped the knife out of her body. Exhausted from the fight with the previous Geth her reaction time had slowed down. Chris still exhausted from the virus reached down to grab his gun. Garrik kicked Syntalia in her chest sending her to the floor.

"You'll be the first to die bitch!" Garrik Snarled.

He rushed at her jumping onto her body. He raised his hand with the knife in it ready to stab her, when a gun shot went off. Blood splattered Syntalia as Garrik's dead corpse fell upon her. Chris got the shot off just in time. He lied there smiling over at her. Syntalia pushed the body off of her and moved over to where Chris was lying. The two helped each other stand up and support each other walking.

Footsteps could be heard behind them. Syntalia looked back to see what it was. A small army of Geth had caught up to them. Chris and Syntalia pushed forward as quickly as they could while ducking behind any material they could. They made it to an opening and saw the other group still moving forward.

"Over here! We need some assistance!" Chris yelled to the other group.

Axel looked over seeing the two of them. He motioned Ariana to them. A conversation broke out and something was going on. Chris and Syntalia watching this in the distance became uneasy. Then it happened quickly. Damien turned on Sara knocking her out with the back of his gun. Axel kicked Ariana to the ground and took her rifle. He turned the gun on Chris and Syntalia and fired.

Chris and Syntalia both fell to the ground. Chris looked over at Syntalia. She took the bullet to her chest. She was gone. Enraged by what was happening Chris took himself to his feet and found strength in himself to run at Axel. He didn't get far however. Another shot left the rifle hitting Chris in his right leg. Chris dropped immediately. Axel grabbed Ariana brought her to her feet and shoved her Sniper rifle to her chest and pressed on towards Citadel tower. Damien grabbed Sara and continued onwards shoving Ariana forward as well.

"I…should have…killed…that bastard…when I had…the chance…" Chris mumbled.

He was at his limit. The virus was now clear it cut off his biotic powers and any time he attempted to use them became instantly fatigued. The gunshot wound to his leg didn't help matters. It didn't matter to him anymore; the Geth would soon be at his position and finish the job Axel left undone.

He could hear the sounds of gunfire. He started to lose consciousness. It didn't matter to him anymore. Before he passed out the last thing he could remember was an N7 patch…

**36 hours later…**

Chris jumped up awake. He was lying in a medical bed in a hospital. A nurse noticed and came in to make sure everything was okay.

"Where am I, and how did I get here?" Chris asked.

The nurse looked him over to make sure he was doing okay from his sudden awakening.

"You're on the citadel. You were saved by Commander Amy Shepherd a day ago."

The news was startling for him to hear.

"What about that big ship that was attacking?"

The nurse looked at him and smiled.

"Commander Shepherd's group got to you just as a small army of Geth was approaching you. Unfortunately your Asari friend took a fatal gunshot wound to her chest and was killed before she had a chance for medical aid. Saren one of the council's ex-specters was working with that big ship. It was an actual working AI with far superior weapon technology. Shepherd killed Saren in the Citadel tower and that weakened the ship known now as Sovereign. The human Alliance Navy led an attack and saved the Destiny Ascension, flag ship of the Council. Humanity will now be joining the council due to everyone's brave actions…"

Chris sat there trying to listen to every detail the nurse provided, but couldn't get the picture of Axel out of his head. He was going to kill that man no matter what.

"Is there a report of anyone else from my group? We were all heading towards Citadel tower as well?" Chris asked.

The nurse sat and pondered for a moment.

"No, I'm sorry not that I am aware of. Casualties are still being accounted for." She replied.

Chris fell silent and closed his eyes again. The nurse finished looking him over and left the room. The person he had been searching for saved his life for that he was thankful; it gave him a new purpose in his life. Revenge at all costs…

**End of Story 1: To be continued!**


End file.
